Awarded contract

Prison Education Service Core Education Lot 7: Kent, Surrey and Sussex Group

Details

Value
£53,000,000
Duration
7 years
Topic
Services related to the detention or rehabilitation of criminals
Published
29 July 2025

Tender description

This notice is for the award of Lot 7: Kent, Surrey and Sussex Group The Prisoner Education Services (PES) is a UK government initiative with three overarching strategic priorities; improving prisoner numeracy and literacy skills, incentivizing prisoners to improve their qualifications and skills to increase their prospects of finding work on release, and ensuring that Governors and their teams have the knowledge, tools, support and accountabilities that they need to make this work. PES seeks to transform learning in jails as part of a renewed push to skill up offenders and protect the public. PES Core Education will include teaching and delivery of a two-layered curriculum for independence and for opportunity which meets the needs of prisoners, as well as high quality, timely screening and assessment delivery and tailored and impactful additional learning needs support. The Ministry of Justice launched the PES Panel to reform how education is delivered across the adult prison estate in England. The first call-offs under this framework focused on Core Education Services, including teaching and delivery of a two-layered curriculum for independence (essential subjects such as English, Maths, digital skills) and curriculum for opportunity, which meets the needs of prisoners. The Core Education contracts also include high quality, timely screening and assessment delivery; tailored and impactful additional learning needs support; and (where applicable) prison library services. The contracts are split into 11 regional lots and aim to provide a consistent, high-quality education offer that supports rehabilitation, reduces reoffending, and improves employability and resettlement outcomes for prisoners. The procurement was conducted under the Open Procedure in accordance with the Light Touch Regime of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Timeline

  1. Completed: Award published29 July 2025
    Current notice
  2. Completed: Award date1 October 2025
  3. Next: Contract expiry date30 September 2032in 6 years

About the buyer

The Ministry of Justice is a central government ministerial department with its own Commercial Standards team providing procurement guidance. Procurement now follows the Procurement Act 2023, in force since February 2025. Higher-value contracts appear on Find a Tender, with Contracts Finder used for lower-value opportunities. Suppliers register and bid through the MOJ Sourcing Portal, the department's e-procurement platform. Much of this procurement flows through framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems. HM Courts and Tribunals Service, HM Prison and Probation Service and the Legal Aid Agency are the department's main delivery bodies.

Procurement spend from central entities makes up 66% of overall UK public spend.

Over the past 5 years, most of the Ministry of Justice's contract awards have been in education and training, IT services and public administration and defence.

Relevant CPV codes

  • 75231200 · Services related to the detention or rehabilitation of criminals

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